Green Lantern: The Animated Series - "Cold Fury"Review

Well, it seems like Green Lantern viewers can't go three episodes without bad news coming down the pipeline. Last fall it was Cartoon Network's inexplicable choice to put DC Nation on hiatus. And this week brought the unwelcome news that both GL and Young Justice are effectively canceled once the current seasons wrap up. The only silver lining in all of this is that "Cold Fury" was another high point in a season full of great episodes. It really makes you wonder just how stellar a show has to be to appease the folks at Cartoon Network.

It's a testament to the quality of "Cold Fury" that I so thoroughly enjoyed the episode despite having it completely spoiled for me by my DVR. Upon reading the episode description, I was treated to this helpful chestnut - "Ava [sic] returns to the ship as an emotionless droid, then fuses with the Anti-Monitor." That's a terrifically efficient way of breaking down the episode for people who prefer reading Wikipedia summaries to actually consuming their entertainment. But for everyone else, that's just cruel. I don't know which genius at WB, Cartoon Network, or DirecTV was responsible for that summary, but for future reference, don't base your text solely on the final few minutes of an episode.

Now that I'm done venting, let's discuss the many things this episode did well. "Cold Fury" picked up immediately where "loss left off last week, as Hal and the Interceptor crew found themselves fleeing the Anti-Monitor's path of destruction, sans one A.I. unit. Seeing Razer struggle to deal with his emotional trauma was great. If this were Dragonball Z, he'd be sprouting spiky, golden hair and achieving some rarefied new level of Super Saiyan right now. Equally memorable was Kilowog's struggle to talk him down. After spending most of the first half of Season 1 building the character relationships, these past few episodes have seen the writers make good on all that build-up.

The Anti-Monitor: no longer the biggest villain on the block.

The casualties in this fight didn't stop with Aya, either. This episode addressed a nitpick I had last week - why didn't the Science Director use her all-powerful Guardian abilities to subdue the rogue Manhunters herself? As it turns out, the Guardians have all but forgotten how to fight their own battles over the millennia. Seeing the Science Director dig deep and unleash her full power against the Anti-Monitor was another highlight of the episode. It was painfully obvious her efforts wouldn't be enough, but that made her sacrifice all the more meaningful. Interesting sidebar - the Science Director's (apparent) death is somewhat reminiscent of a scene in "The Sinestro Corps War" comic book where one of the female Guardians was wounded by the Anti-Monitor and became corrupted by the energy. I'd be curious to know if the writers were inspired by that scene, and if this episode would have been a building block towards the creation of the Black Lanterns had this show continued.

"Cold Fury" also delivered an interesting inversion of the final showdown in last year's mid-season finale. This time it was the Red Lanterns fighting a losing battle against a larger and superior force. There sure was a lot of death going on in this episode, even if the Red Lanterns were merely faceless casualties aboard exploding ships.In between Zox's grudging respect for Hal and the military discipline the rest of the Red Lanterns showed, these characters came across as far more than two-dimensional villains. And this was yet another episode to blend the epic feel of a Star Wars-style showdown in space with the smaller character drama of Hal and the gang.

And then came the big moment when Aya returned to the ship, slightly the worse for wear. It was a bit of a shock even with my spoilery DVR, thanks to her creepy, half-assembled Manhunter form. This reunion led to the only portion of the episode that bothered me slightly. I really didn't understand Razer's hostile reaction to her return. After finally confessing his love for Aya last week, why did he already fall back into old habits and spurn her affections? I feel like the writers needed Razer to act a certain way in order to set the climax in motion, but his behavior wasn't in line with his general character arc over the past few weeks.

Regardless, this act of emotional betrayal sent Aya down a heartbreaking path. First we got to see her exercise her bad-ass side as she slaughtered the Manhunters and punched the Anti-Monitor with a starship. For all the build-up the villain had received, it quickly became clear who the real powerhouse in the universe is. And naturally, no sooner had Aya overcome her foe than she decided to replace him. Again, I unfortunately knew to expect that turn of events, but Aya's fall was handled so well that it scarcely mattered. Even prior to this week, I figured there was still some sort of big twist still to come involving the Anti-Monitor. Earlier, I would have guessed that Krona would be revealed as the true mastermind. But now, an emotionless Aya and her newfound army have emerged as the true threat to Lanterns of all hues. It lends a far more personal touch to the ongoing conflict that should pay off nicely by the end of the season.

The only problem I foresee now is that the solution to this turn of events seems really obvious - make Razer appeal to Aya's buried feelings of love and restore her emotions. But with seven episodes still remaining, the chances are very good that Green Lantern will drop a few more twists and turns before this conflict is brought to a close. If the series can keep the momentum going that it's built up pretty much since Season 1.5 began, there's no reason to expect anything less than a terrific finale.